Chariset:It's cute, but it's sort of scary how lethargic and floppy the cub is. Are pandas supposed to be that languid?

As the only member of the bear family that prefers an almost vegetarian diet, Giant Pandas don't expend a whole lot of energy on anything except eating bamboo. They still have a carnivore's digestive system, so they have to consume a stupid amount of plant material in order to get a proper amount of nourishment. Otherwise, they expend little energy on anything, including mating, because they're trying to get enough energy to function from what is essentially woody grass.

ozarkmatt:I don't know about that, but I am pretty sure the panda is the only creature that would have made themselves extinct if it wasn't for humans.

Look at those claws - that's an animal that was originally meant to kill things. Instead, they lounge all day eating bamboo because of an accidental adaptation that allows them to digest cellulose because of bacteria in their gut. They evolved specifically to hang around bamboo forests, eat the plants, and shiat them out. They aren't particularly adaptable to new environments, and their low energy diet means their mating habits have evolved to "barely able to sustain under the best of conditions" levels.

Lsherm:As the only member of the bear family that prefers an almost vegetarian diet, Giant Pandas don't expend a whole lot of energy on anything except eating bamboo. They still have a carnivore's digestive system, so they have to consume a stupid amount of plant material in order to get a proper amount of nourishment. Otherwise, they expend little energy on anything, including mating, because they're trying to get enough energy to function from what is essentially woody grass.

I wonder, would a panda become powerfully intelligent apex predator if they were fed a diet of meat? Like all bears, they are omnivorous, so they could handle the higher protein and fat content. It's rather plain to see that the severe lack of the essential fatty acids required for brain growth and development have rendered the panda as a species mentally disabled. If we want to save the panda, we may have to give nature the finger (again) and get the cubs eating meat and drinking high-fat milk so they can at least develop into healthy adults, then if they want to be vegan hippies they can, knowing full well that when times get tough, the human vegan hippies chanting on how the panda was abused (by being trained to eat meat) can be a mighty tasty source of energy.

Lsherm:Chariset: It's cute, but it's sort of scary how lethargic and floppy the cub is. Are pandas supposed to be that languid?

As the only member of the bear family that prefers an almost vegetarian diet, Giant Pandas don't expend a whole lot of energy on anything except eating bamboo. They still have a carnivore's digestive system, so they have to consume a stupid amount of plant material in order to get a proper amount of nourishment. Otherwise, they expend little energy on anything, including mating, because they're trying to get enough energy to function from what is essentially woody grass.

ozarkmatt: I don't know about that, but I am pretty sure the panda is the only creature that would have made themselves extinct if it wasn't for humans.

Look at those claws - that's an animal that was originally meant to kill things. Instead, they lounge all day eating bamboo because of an accidental adaptation that allows them to digest cellulose because of bacteria in their gut. They evolved specifically to hang around bamboo forests, eat the plants, and shiat them out. They aren't particularly adaptable to new environments, and their low energy diet means their mating habits have evolved to "barely able to sustain under the best of conditions" levels.

Someone once pointed out that pandas wouldn't appear so cute if they didn't have those big black spots around their eyes. It's hard to imagine what they'd look like without them, but I recall a drawing of one with and one without the spots. The one without the spots wasn't exactly hideous, but it wasn't anywhere near as cute.